Recipes

One of the most beloved Italian pastries, the cannoli is a true delight when baked correctly. Here is an easy to follow cannoli recipe that everyone will love. The shells taste great and filling is wonderful.

It should be mentioned that you will need a cannoli tube for this recipe. There are methods of making your own cannoli tubes, but that is not recommended. Visit your local grocery store or check online, they are inexpensive and you like this recipe, you will get a lot of use out of them.

Cannoli Pre Time: 1 hour

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients for the Shells:

Cannoli tube (this is required)

4 cups all-purpose flour

¼ tsp. salt

2 tbsp. sugar

2 egg yolks

3 tblsp. softened butter

¾ cup white wine

Some shortening for frying the shells

Ingredients for Filling:

¼ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1 ½ cups powdered sugar

4 cups ricotta cheese

1 cup heavy whipping cream (for a lighter filling)

Making the Shells

To start making the shells for the cannolis, mix the flour, salt, and sugar in a medium bowl. Add the butter and egg yolks, stirring with a fork. Next, slowly stir in the white wine until the dough becomes more solid and sticks together. Create a ball from the dough and place back in the bowl. Cover with a clean towel and let stand for 30 minutes.

After the 30 minutes are over, roll the dough out on a floured surface. You want to roll the dough until it is paper thin. Next, take a glass that is about 4 inches in diameter and use this as your cutter. Make impressions in the dough using the glass to cut out circle pieces of dough.

Take the cut out dough and wrap each circle around a cannoli tube. Flare the edges of the shell and make sure that the circle overlaps as you wrap it around the tube.

In a frying pan, start melting a small amount of shortening. Fry 2 cannoli at a time or one during your first batch to get used to the recipe. They should only need to fry for about 1 minute, browning all the sides of the shell. Place the fried shells on a piece of paper towel to absorb the excess grease. You should allow the shells to cool down for a minute before removing the cannoli tubes.

When you are ready to remove the tubes, leave the shell on the paper towel and press down slightly with one hand while sliding the tube out with your other hand. Leave the shells on the paper towel. You want the shells to completely cool down before adding the filling. In fact, you could even make the shells the day before and store in a container.

Making the Filling

To make the filling, mix the ricotta cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract together in a large bowl. Add the chocolate chips to the mixture, stirring only a couple times to avoid over mixing the filling.

The next step is optional. To create a lighter tasting filling, you can whip 1 cup of heavy whipping cream into the mixture. Whether you add the whipping cream or not, place the filling in your fridge and chill for 30 minutes.

Once the filling is cold and the shells have completely cooled, you can start inserting the filling into the shells. The easiest way to do this is with a pastry bag for piping. Sprinkle some powdered sugar on top of the cannoli and keep refrigerated until they are ready to serve.

Other variations include adding cherries or cut fruit into the filling. You could also top the cannoli with whipped cream or a couple cherries. Either way, this is a simple recipe that everyone is sure to love.

Hopefully you enjoyed this recipe. If you have any thoughts on this recipe, feel free to leave a comment below.